Use Screen Time on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

With Screen Time, you can access real-time reports about how much time you spend on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, and set limits for what you want to manage.

Screen Time — a new feature of iOS 12 — lets you know how much time you and your kids spend on apps, websites, and more. This way, you can make more informed decisions about how you use your devices, and set limits if you'd like to. Read on to learn how to turn on Screen Time, view your report and set limits, and manage a child's device.

Turn on Screen Time

On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, go to Settings > Screen Time.

Tap Turn On Screen Time.

Tap Continue.

Select This is My [device] or This is My Child's [device].

You can now get a report about how you use your device, apps, and websites, any time you want.

If it's your child's device, you can set up Screen Time and create settings right on their device or you can use Family Sharing to configure your child’s device from your own device. After you set up your child’s device, you can also use Family Sharing to view reports and adjust settings any time, right from your own device.

With Screen Time you can also create a dedicated passcode to secure settings, so only you can extend time or make changes.

Make sure to choose a passcode that's different from the passcode you use to unlock your device. To change or turn off the passcode on your child's device, tap Settings > Screen Time > [your child's name]. Then tap Change Screen Time Passcode or Turn Off Screen Time Passcode, and authenticate the change with Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode.

View your report and set limits

Screen Time gives you a detailed report about how your device is used, apps you've opened, and websites you've visited, any time that you want to see it. Just go to Settings > Screen Time and tap the graph. There, you can see your usage, set limits for your Most Used apps, and see how many times a device was picked up or received a notification.

If you turned on Share Across Devices, you can view overall usage across devices that are signed in with your Apple ID and password.

Here are the settings that you can manage:

DowntimeThink of this as a nap for your screen time. When you schedule Downtime in Settings, only phone calls and apps that you choose to allow are available. Downtime applies to all of your Screen Time-enabled devices, and you get a reminder five minutes before it starts.

App LimitsYou can set daily limits for app categories with App Limits. For example, you might want to see Productivity apps while you're at work, but not Social Networking or Games. App Limits refresh every day at midnight, and you can delete them any time.

Always AllowedYou might want to access certain apps, even if it's Downtime or if you set the All Apps & Categories app limit. Phone, Messages, FaceTime, and Maps are Always Allowed by default, but you can remove them if you want.

Use Screen Time with your family

With Family Sharing, you can share music, movies, apps, and more with family — and it now works with Screen Time. You can view reports and adjust settings for children in your family any time, right from your device.

If you're already in a family group, go to Settings > Screen Time, and tap your child's name. If you need to create an Apple ID for your child, go to Settings > [your name] > Family Sharing > Screen Time.

Or if you're new to Family Sharing, tap Set up Screen Time for Family and follow the instructions to add a child and set up your family. You can add family members any time from Family Sharing settings.

To use Screen Time with Family Sharing, you need to be the family organizer or parent/guardian in your family group, on iOS 12. Your child must be under age 18, in your family group with their own Apple ID, and on iOS 12.